Nobel winner helps launch global Decent Work Campaign

International Confederation of Free Trade Unions

Nairobi, 21 January 2007: A worldwide campaign for Decent Work was launched today in Nairobi at the World Social Forum by the Decent Work Alliance and with the help of Wangari Maathai, Kenya's 2004 Nobel Peace Prize winner.

It aims to place Decent Work , a concept covering equal access to employment, living wages, social protection, freedom from exploitation and union rights at the core of development, economic, trade, financial and social policies at the national, European and International level through public campaigning and lobbying. The campaign will take its message from Nairobi to the World Economic Forum in Davos, and then on to the G8 meeting in Germany.

"As a guiding principle, the achievement of decent work for all should be the object and the outset of increased policy coherence between the main actors of global economic and social governance. The global institutions such as the IMF. WTO and World Bank must recognise that their policies are leading to more insecurity, irregularity and informality for most of the world's workers. For the sake of human well being we cannot let this continue," Bart Verstraeten, from Social Alert International commented.

"Although decent work is starting to figure in international statements, it is still not being promoted by the main actors of global governance" said Guy Ryder, ITUC General Secretary. "We need to make those actors change their minds and realize that international trade and economic growth alone are neither creating enough good jobs nor eradicating poverty. Decent work is a central part of the solution to globalisation's unpopularity" he added.

"For the majority of the world's people who are missing out on the benefits of global economic growth, decent work at this point is merely a dream. This campaign will strive to make it not only a reality, but through it to reconnect people with the political process and give them hope that they can in fact change what from afar seems the unchangeable," Conny Reuter, Solidar's Secretary-General said today.

Maathai joined Guy Ryder, ITUC General Secretary, Conny Reuter, Solidar Secretary-General, Harlem Desir, the Vice-President of the Global Progressive Forum, Bart Verstraeten, from Social Alert International and Joel Decaillon from the ETUC in launching the campaign.

Over 50 activities will take place in Nairobi under the banner of Decent Work, Decent Life including the launch of a new campaign on Decent Work for the 2010 World Cup focusing on the construction industry (23 January).

*Decent Work, Decent Life is a joint campaign led by the International Trade Union Confederation, the Global Progressive Forum, Social Alert International and Solidar.